Henry Erskine Allon (16 October 1864 – 3 April 1897) was an English composer.

Biography

Henry Erskine Allon was born on 16 October 1864 to the prominent

Nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

minister

Henry Allon Henry Allon (1818–1892) was an English Nonconformist divine. Life He was born on 13 October 1818 at Welton, Elloughton-cum-Brough, near Hull, in Yorkshire. Under Methodist influence Henry Allon decided to enter the ministry, but, develop ...

(1818–1892) and his wife, Eliza ''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Goodman. Allon grew up among four sisters and two brothers, and was educated at

Amersham Hall Amersham Hall was a "school for the sons of dignified gentlemen" in England. From 1829 to 1861 it was in Elmodesham House in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, relocating in 1861 to Caversham in Oxfordshire. The Caversham site, a suburb in the north o ...

Caversham, Reading Caversham is a suburb of Reading, England. Originally a village founded in the Middle Ages, it lies on the north bank of the River Thames, opposite the rest of Reading. Caversham Bridge, Reading Bridge, Christchurch Bridge, and Caversham Lock pr ...

. He first attended

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

, and then

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, where he

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

at in 1882. He obtained his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

there in 1885. At Cambridge he received an English essay prize and graduated with a

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

in History. His father tried to get Allon appointed to the university's inspectorate, but was dissuaded from this by his friend

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, lite ...

as he suspected the Tory government in power (whose Lord President had the job of appointing inspectors) would be unlikely to appoint Nonconformist inspectors. Allon studied music under William Henry Birch and Frederic Corder and was a vigorous promoter of, and contributor to, the ''New Musical Quarterly Review'', which he had assisted in founding of. He was one of the composers featured in

Granville Bantock Sir Granville Ransome Bantock (7 August 186816 October 1946) was a British composer of classical music. Biography Granville Ransome Bantock was born in London. His father was an eminent Scottish surgeon.Hadden, J. Cuthbert, 1913, ''Modern Music ...

's concert of new music by himself and his friends, put on at

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it ...

on 15 December 1896. (Other composers included in this group were

William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...

, Reginald Steggall, Stanley Hawley and

Arthur Hinton Arthur Hinton (20 November 1869 – 11 August 1941) was an English composer and conductor. His wife was the internationally famous pianist Katharine Goodson, who gave the first performance of his Piano Concerto in D minor in 1905.Foreman, Lewis'Ar ...

). Allon composed and published many musical works, including two

cantatas A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of t ...

("Annie of Lochroyan" and "The Child of Elle"),

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

, solos, and

sonatas Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''canta ...

. Allon composed mainly for the piano, and pain with violin. Musicologist Clyde Binfield has noted that while "there was nothing Celtic in his ancestry", his compositions often bore Scottish-inspired names, such as "The Maid of Colonsay" and "May Margaret". According to

Edward Irving Carlyle Edward Irving Carlyle (15 September 1871 – 9 February 1952) was a British author and historian. He was educated at St John's College, Oxford, where he was a Casberd scholar. He graduated in 1894 and was appointed assistant editor of the ''Dic ...

, writing for the ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', his works "showed originality and power", and his brief biography in ''

Alumni Cantabrigienses ''Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900'' is a biographical register of former members of the University of Cambridge whic ...

'' described him up as "a musician of great promise". Binfield was more forthright in his assessment of Allon, declaring "it was all promise, she died in his early thirties". Despite his father's strong Nonconformist zeal, Allon lapsed from that faith and instead became a member of the CUNU, a Congregationalist and

interdenominational Interdenominationalism is an evangelical Protestant movement of cooperation among various Christian denominations. History The movement has its origins in the founding of the London Missionary Society, a missionary society, in 1795 by variou ...

religious organisation. Allon died on 3 April 1897, aged 32, from

cerebral meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion o ...

. He left £5966 13s 8d in his will, approximately £466,428 in 2017 currency,Converted from 1900 to 2017 using: and left his library of musical works to the

Cambridge Union Society The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1815, it is the oldest continuously running debatin ...

Biography

References

Further reading